After Iris

Natasha Farrant

- 4.6 • 9 Ratings

- $10.99

- $10.99

An unforgettable middle-grade debut that will steal your heart
Blue Gadsby’s twin sister, Iris, died three years ago and her family has never been the same. Her histrionic older sister, Flora, changes her hair color daily; her younger siblings, Jasmine and Twig, are completely obsessed with their pet rats; and both of her parents spend weeks away from home–and each other. Enter Zoran the Bosnian male au pair and Joss the troublemaking boy next door, and life for the Gadsby family takes a turn for the even more chaotic. Blue poignantly captures her family’s trials and tribulations from fragmented to fully dysfunctional to ultimately reunited, in a sequence of film transcripts and diary entries that will make you cry, laugh, and give thanks for the gift of families.

With the charm of The Penderwicks and the poignancy of When You Reach Me, Natasha Farrant's After Iris is a story that will stay with readers long after the last page.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JUN 10, 2013

Twelve-year-old Bluebell Gadsby's family has been collapsing ever since Blue's twin sister, Iris, died three years ago. Blue's father is working on the other side of the country, and their mother is traveling overseas, which leaves new au pair Zoran in charge. Between Blue's older sister Flora's rebelliousness, her two younger siblings' antics, and the family's pet rats, which live in the garden of their London home, Zoran has his hands full. Each chapter begins with a brief transcript of video diaries filmed by quiet, lonely Blue ("My plan is to record my life through words and images"). Then 16-year-old Joss moves in next door, saving Blue's social life and becoming her first crush, which is complicated when he begins dating Flora. Literary scout Farrant, making her U.S. debut, balances Blue's growth with wry humor and light moments (as when the rats make a chaotic visit to Blue's classroom in remote-control race cars). Blue's struggles are handled with honesty, and she makes a rewarding journey from observing her life to living it again and accepting what she has lost. Ages 10 up.

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